New Year
by BadgerInMySoup
Summary: Rachel hates her father's New Year's Eve parties. Until Apollo comes to fix it.


AN- Story 100!

That is all. Enjoy.

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Rachel hates New Years at her father's mansion. She has to wear an extremely uncomfortable poofy dress, wait around with people older than her by more than twenty years and listen as they scoff anyone for buying Art Van furniture over the designer stuff.

She hides in the corner, sipping champagne and counting down the minutes to midnight until she ca disappear into her room and sleep the day away.

"Oh, Rachel!"

Her father calls her name from somewhere and she rolls her eyes but smooths the wrinkles in her dress and places her glass somewhere out of sight.

Her father appears, looking rather regal in the whole suit and tie deal. He's beaming, which is odd and she wonders if he's drunk.

"There's a young man I'd like you to meet. An up incoming model."

Rachel hides a groan. She knew, of course, that dating was off limits for the Oracle but she couldn't exactly explain that to her dad so she's forced to come up with excuses as to why she doesn't date and her father's constant match-making attempts are getting annoying.

And this one would be to, if she did not recognize the blonde hair and chiseled jaw, twinkling blue eyes and mischievous grin.

"His name is Adam, but he goes by the name of Apollo, for his modeling."

Apollo extends a hand to take Rachel's and places a light kiss on her soft skin. "Pleasure to meet you, Miss Dare."

Rachel fights an eye-roll. "You too."

"I'll just let you two get better acquainted."

Mr. Dare looks positively ecstatic as he races off, surely to find her mother and tell her all about this."

"So, what brings you to my humble abode?" Rachel asks.

"I could feel your boredom. I knew I had to assist my poor Oracle."

"But a model?"

"Pretty easy to accept isn't it?"

Apollo flashes a grin and Rachel has to agree that it is. Easy to accept, that is. He's attractive beyond belief and more charming than a snake but in a sweet way.

Yes, so, she might have fallen for the God. Big deal.

"So for the next two hours, I am your entertainment. Would you like to dance?"

Against her better judgment, Rachel smiles and lets him lead her onto the dance floor where all eyes turn to them as they waltz.

"Do this often?"

"I'm an expert dancer, of course. Gods can do anything they put their mind to."

Rachel lays a head on his shoulder and he pulls her close and in a moment like this, it's easy to forget that he's a God and she's an Oracle and it's not like anything can ever happen.

Apollo is, of course, a huge hit at the party. Everyone fawns over him, then tells Rachel in stage whispers that her beau is simply to die for. Rachel blushes and accepts the compliments, then catches Apollo's eye and there's _something_ in his twinkling blue for only a second.

When it's a few minutes to midnight, they end up back in the same corner Rachel was hiding in, and she manages to find her champagne too.

"Happy New Year's Eve, by the way," Apollo mentions.

"Thanks. You too. And," she pauses for a second, "Thanks for coming. It was fun. And it doesn't hurt that you're extremely attractive."

She slaps a hand over her mouth, her face becoming as red as a tomato. Curse the alcohol, loosening her tongue, saying everything she never wanted to around him.

"So are you," he assures, his hand smoothing back a loose curl and lingering.

She sort of wants to kiss him. Even if it's just for a moment even if it can never mean a thing. She wants to kiss him because he came here and kept her company and because she did it ages ago. Fell for him, that is.

So when the clock strikes midnight, she wills herself to move forward, to make a move and blame it on tradition but her nerves get the better of her and she can't.

So he does.

It's all spark and flames and ohmygosh and she never wants it to stop. She wraps an arm around her neck and his hands land on her waist and of course he can kiss well, is there anything he can't do?

He pulls away rather abruptly and she knows she must be a sight with swollen lips and mussed make-up. Apollo stares at her for a moment, before quickly dropping his hands and adjusting his hair (that her fingers must have run through, she kind of can't remember).

"Happy New Year, Oracle," Apollo says, looking at anything but her.

"Happy New Year," she whispers.

His eyes soften for a moment and he reaches for her, like he never wants to let her go, but it's her turn to step away and force a smile.

"I'll see you. Next time I'm spewing prophecies."

"Yeah. See you."

She watches him go say goodbye to her father then disappear into a secluded alcove where she knows he'll take his true form and head back to Mount Olympus.

Where he'll be a God and where he won't think of stupid little red-head girls who fall for him despite their better judgment.

But she'll spend the entire night dreaming of him and them and everyone she can never have.

(But she doesn't know that he's thinking the exact same thing)

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AN- Happy New Year! Sorry for the rushed but I was under strict time limits to complete this before I had to go to work.

100 fics!


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